SEATTLE – Julie Kedzie didn’t want to go into Germaine de Randamie’s Muay Thai world, but de Randamie didn’t give her much choice.

de Randamie worked tirelessly for knees in the clinch and went on to take a split decision from Kedzie with scores of 30-27, 28-29 and 29-28.

The women’s bantamweight bout was part of today’s UFC on FOX 8 event at KeyArena in Seattle. It aired on FX following additional prelims on Facebook and ahead of a main card on FOX.

Kedzie shot for a takedown 30 seconds in, but de Randamie shrugged it off. Seconds later, Kedzie caught her with a left hand that put her on her knees. But de Randamie was able to recover and tied Kedzie up on the fence, where she hoped to work her Muay Thai prowess. She worked knees to the body while keeping Kedzie tied up. With 80 seconds left in the round, referee Randy Corley broke the two up. And though Kedize landed a pair of nice kicks, she ate two big ones and de Randamie went back to work with more knees.

Early in the second, de Randamie landed a front kick to the body, then tried to go up high with a kick. A right hand came behind that as Kedzie tried to figure out the Dutch striker’s puzzle. Kedzie landed a high kick, then a combination inside for her best offense of the fight. And shortly after that, she landed a takedown and quickly got into half guard with half the round to work. Kedzie controlled de Randamie’s head, but didn’t make much effort to pass to side control, and the offense was limited, at best, from the top position.

The two scrambled quickly on the feet early in the third, and Kedzie threw de Randamie to the ground. But de Randamie was back up and tied Kedzie up to again look for knees. With about three minutes left in the round, Kedzie got back out, but de Randamie landed a solid right hand. Kedzie landed a good body kick, then blocked a kick to the head. With two minutes left, Kedzie seemed to sense some of the urgency. She narrowly missed a wheel kick, and with 45 seconds left, she caught a de Randamie kick and took her to the ground. On top, she needed to land enough punches to win the round. But de Randamie may have landed more from the bottom, and that likely clinched the fight.

“I wanted to leave with a little bit more,” de Randamie said. “But I’ve been out for a year, and I feel that I started off a little bit stiff in the beginning. I have to say, Julie is a veteran, and all the respect to her. This is amazing, and it’s a dream come true that I’m the first Dutch woman to step into the octagon.”

Kedzie said she was disappointed in her performance – and even offered a message to UFC President Dana White that she has more to offer than what she showed on Saturday.

“Every fight, you look back and you don’’ think you preformed your best,” Kedzie said. “I didn’t listen to my coaches enough. I didn’t see a 30-27 score – I thought I won the second round and I thought the third round was pretty close, but I can see them giving it to her. I’m proud I stood with the fiercest female kickboxer in the world, but I’m disappointed in my debut. Dana, I can do better.” de Randamie (4-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) won for the second straight time and won her UFC debut after going 2-1 in Strikeforce. Kedzie (16-12 MMA, 0-1 UFC) lost for the third straight time after losses to Miesha Tate and Alexis Davis in Strikeforce.

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